Screenshots

Summary

Overall, GPS Origins offers something a bit different to other genetic ancestry services. The ‘Gene Pool Percentages’ are fascinating, and the ‘DNA Migration Maps’ are really engaging.

For those like myself whom upload their raw data to GPS Origins instead of buying the full test, I was expecting to see only a weak correlation between the GPS Origins results and the results from other services (uploading raw data to GPS Origins means that fewer genetic variants can be accessed to provide the results). However, in my case, GPS Origins corresponds very well with my AncestryDNA results and with my parents’ and grandparents’ AncestryDNA results.

The price is higher than for uploading your raw data to Family Tree DNA or DNA Tribes, but I think it’s definitely worth the money if you’re looking for emerging patterns in your ethnic breakdown and you choose to upload raw data instead of buying the full test. I also think that the GPS Origins migration maps can help you figure out some of the anomalies that you may have come across when using other tools (e.g. GEDMatch) as they have done for me!

Full Review

GPS Origins is produced by DNA Diagnostics Center; they believe that advancement in technology should translate to services that are available for everyone. They are globally recognised and offer an array of DNA testing services.

The full GPS Origins test analyses over 730,000 genetic variants which is more than 23andMe, Family Tree DNA, AncestryDNA or National Geographic. It uses in-depth analysis to work out your ancestors’ migration route, as well as your top three ancestral origins.

Although I was uploading my raw data to GPS Origins to take the test, I was intrigued to see how the results would compare to my AncestryDNA and Family Tree DNA results. I hoped GPS Origins would help me figure out some of the discrepancies I’ve found when uploading my data to other sites for an ancestral analysis.

Product Expectations

GPS Origins was unknown to me until I stumbled across a thread on the Anthrogenica forum. As I had recently uploaded my raw data to DNA Tribes for some interesting results, I was eager to compare. As GPS Origins analyses more genetic variants than other tests, I was hoping they’d be able to be more specific as to the origin of my ancestors.

Apart from the ethnic origin breakdown, the next thing I was most intrigued about was the migration map, as it doesn’t just give you one route, but two, so you should get a much clearer idea of where your ancestors are from and travelled to. Because of this, I was hoping that it would explain some of the more exotic populations that have been identified in my ethnic mix by other companies.

Online Registration

First you’ll have to set up a profile which is fairly straightforward. There’s also a questionnaire you can complete to give GPS Origins information about your mother and father’s lineage, which will help them refine their data and algorithms.

Ordering Experience

Once you’ve completed your profile you can either choose the full DNA kit (which they’ll post to you) or the raw data upload.

When you’ve chosen the raw data upload, GPS Origins will ask you to upload the data file and when complete, you’ll have to wait another 5-15 minutes for the data to be processed. This is the bit I struggled to get my head around as I expected to have to pay before uploading my raw data, but you actually pay after it’s been uploaded and processed.

Once I made the payment I got instant access to my ethnic breakdown and migration routes.

The Results

The results sections are self-explanatory, divided into two main sections: ‘Gene Pool Percentages’ and ‘DNA Migration Routes’, with some additional charts and maps for both.

There’s also a ‘Your Profile’ section which gives you the option to download your results, however, when I tried to do this, I was simply taken to the top of the page. I don’t know if they’d removed this function for customers who’d uploaded their data, or whether it’s a bug, but it’s frustrating if you want to download your results to go over them offline.

Results Section: Gene Pool Percentages

When you scroll down to the first results section you will see a map of your ‘Top 3 Gene Pools’. You can click on each gene pool to show it on the map (shown below). I liked that the colour intensity indicated where the pool is most prevalent, this was a nice feature.

Underneath the Top 3 Gene Pools and Gene Pool Regions you can read about the regions, from the history of agriculture and language in that area, to the migration patterns that occurred there – I thought this was awesome!

You can see your full gene pool results by clicking the ‘All Gene Pools’ button, shown below:

As you can see it showed me the top 10 gene pools that have contributed to my DNA, starting with the highest percentage down to the lowest. One thing I noticed when comparing my GPS Origins results to those of other customers is that Fennoscandia and Orkney Islands are in the top three gene pools for anyone with Northwest European ancestry (individuals located in the UK and US mostly).

I definitely got a few surprises, the Tuva gene pool for example, which originates between the Russian and Mongolian border. I feel like this part of my ethnicity must be incredibly ancient rather than anything I can realistically trace in recent generations of my family. That said, I’ve read some intriguing articles about Siberian gene pools contributing to the DNA of modern Native Americans. Interestingly, DNA Tribes and the GEDMatch tool indicate that Native American populations have contributed to my ethnicity, so this corresponds with the Tuva result I’ve received!

One thing I would have liked from this section is perhaps a map that shows where the top 10 Gene Pool Percentages are from – it wasn’t obvious from the descriptions where these regions were located in the world.

Results Section: DNA Migration Routes

The second results section was focused on the migration routes that my ancestors would have taken hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. Two migration maps were shown, one for my maternal line and one for my paternal line (shown below). Unfortunately, I learned that GPS Origins was unable to distinguish which was which.

Each point of each migratory path showed the location of a population that had contributed to my ethnic mix. I was able to manipulate the map to focus on each point, and learn about the historical factors that caused the population groups to move. I thought this feature was fantastic, it was great to learn about these migration routes step by step.

I found that the DNA Migration Routes map corroborated the results I’ve received from other companies quite well. Beneath the map, GPS Origins went into more detail about the routes themselves, below is the description of my ‘Migration Route B’:

The story really brought my ancestry alive. It was great to understand how my ancestors migrated through the region and to learn about what happened to cause the migration in the first place. It looks like the Huns had a good time in Russia, and this clearly links in with the Tuva result I’d received in the Gene Pool Percentages section.

I quite liked the narrative approach to this section, based on the fact that I like learning about obscure aspects of history. It also gave me a clearer idea of why I scored high for Scandinavian ethnicity, despite the fact that the migration routes of my ancestors seem to avoid Scandinavia all together!

Summary

Overall, GPS Origins offers something a bit different to other genetic ancestry services. The ‘Gene Pool Percentages’ are fascinating, and the ‘DNA Migration Maps’ are really engaging.

For those like myself whom upload their raw data to GPS Origins instead of buying the full test, I was expecting to see only a weak correlation between the GPS Origins results and the results from other services (uploading raw data to GPS Origins means that fewer genetic variants can be accessed to provide the results). However, in my case, GPS Origins corresponds very well with my AncestryDNA results and with my parents’ and grandparents’ AncestryDNA results.

The price is higher than for uploading your raw data to Family Tree DNA or DNA Tribes, but I think it’s definitely worth the money if you’re looking for emerging patterns in your ethnic breakdown and you choose to upload raw data instead of buying the full test. I also think that the GPS Origins migration maps can help you figure out some of the anomalies that you may have come across when using other tools (e.g. GEDMatch) as they have done for me!

GPS Origins Review

1 September 2017

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 5 out of 5

5

Approved Review

Absolutely awesome that you get BOTH your migratory routes with G P S Origins. I’m female and my male relatives are no longer in the picture, so uploading my 23andMe data has FINALLY let me see information from my Dad’s side of the family (I already know my Mum’s so it was easy to work out which migratory route was my paternal one!

Waste of Time and Miney

13 June 2017

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 1 out of 5

1

Approved Review

Do not waste your time or money in this test. We had 4 of us, take the test. Each came back with almost equal results, which is impossible since we are not blood relatives. Too broad; goes back too far, to the beginning of all. Absolutely disappointed. Find another test.

Four stars

4 June 2017

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 4 out of 5

4

Approved Review

Not enough by itself but a good add-on to 23andMe. I’ve learned signicantly more about the groups that comprise my DNA and I’m seeing my Scandinavian and Eastern European heritage refelected accurately

Almost 3 months and nothing

1 June 2017

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 1 out of 5

1

Approved Review

Purchased a groupon, received my package in the mail a few days later. First of all, the packing itself is low-budget. There are a few cotton swabs (the kind you get at the dr office) and a small envelope. I have seen that other DNA testing has an actual test tube that you spit in. I rubbed the hell out of my cheeks for at least 40 seconds. I used all of the swabs! Weeks go by and I am thinking maybe they’re just backed up. I emailed them and they said after checking with the lab they were unable to process my sample because it didn’t have enough DNA. I am calling BS! I think they lost it because there’s no way in hell that was possible. They said they would send me a new package in 2 days. It is day 3, still no package. I wasted time and money and paid only 20.00 less than the major names out there. I regret it completely!

Finding roots

24 May 2017

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 4 out of 5

4

Approved Review

I’ve tested with 23 & Me, FTDNA, and GPS Origins. Since I found 23 & Me ancestry and medicial results to be highly inaccurate, I uploaded my FTDNA results onto GPS Origins. The resulting maps were great and quite informative. As important as the accuracy has been the prompt response I’ve recieved from GPS Origins, which is way better than FTDNA and is non-existent at 23 & Me.

I regret having tested with GPSorigins

23 May 2017

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 1 out of 5

1

Approved Review

I found this test to be absolutely worthless. They advertise they will give you town locations of your origins, but if they are they are talking about prehistoric times. Their results were completely inconsistent with the other tests I have done and which are consistent with my known genealogy. Do not buy this test

Worthless

20 May 2017

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 1 out of 5

1

Approved Review

I found this test to be absolutely worthless. They advertise they will give you town locations of your origins, but if they are they are talking about prehistoric times. Their results were completely inconsistent with the other tests I have done and which are consistent with my known genealogy. Do not buy this test

Impressed

1 April 2017

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 5 out of 5

5

Approved Review

I have to say I was very impressed with my experience at GPSOrigins. The presented my information in a very compelling way and I loved the fact that I could upload my DNA results from elsewhere to get analysis.

Migration maps and location

31 March 2017

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 3 out of 5

3

Approved Review

The migration maps are 100 times more advanced than 23&Me, I can see a real journey through Europe to my family’s recent countries of origin (Belgium and the Netherlands). The settling locations within these countries (the supposed regions of my ancestors a thousand years ago) looks pretty generic and inaccurate though. I have a hard time believing the reference populations put my ancestors right in the middle of the most populous areas.

Makes a lot more sense than 23andMe

GPS have actually put some effort into their ancestral analysis compared to 23andMe who’s ancestry reports seem more ‘bolted on’ to give the impression of an ancestry service.

I am super pleased with GPS Origins for helping me to get more out of my 23andMe data. I’ve tried several tools (GED Match included) but GPS is the only company that’s accurately mapped the lineage of my family in the last four generations.

Fluff and boiler plate, unresponsive to questions

29 January 2017

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 1 out of 5

1

Approved Review

At first, the GPS Origins report seems impressive, but it appears that much of it is standard boilerplate. The presentation on line is flashy and impressive, but reality sets in when one realizes that the flashy location graphics cannot be downloaded. In addition, they proudly advertise their substantial number of data bases, which are summed up in 13 “gene pool stories” with descriptive narrative. However, regardless of how your DNA parses out, you only receive the narrative of the top three gene pools. Those top three gene pool stories reflect less than half of my DNA %, but I am unable to see or download the descriptions of the other 10 gene pools that describe the remaining 50 plus per-cent of my DNA results. I have tried to contact GPS Origins several times about this, but they have never responded to my questions via the “contact” buttons on their website. The website promises a one business day turnaround on contacts, but that is obviously not so. Looks like I have wasted my money with them.

Not good at all

I have tested with 23andme, Ancestry , uploaded my raw datas on numerous websites such as DNA tribes, DNA. Land, Gedmatch , FTDNA and wegenes, but this one got to be the WORST! LOL

At first, i wasnt surprised by the top 3 populations but as soon as i scrolled down and saw the rest of the results, i was shocked by the innaccuracy.GPS Origins gave me a false prediction by linking me to groups i am not related to. (More than 15% siberian when all the other tests proves that i dont have any siberian ancestry).

Worthwhile

If you’ve taken 23andMe and were disappointed with the ancestral results, you definintely have to take this GPS test.

Firstly, don’t be confused by the ‘GPS’ part, this has nothing to do with sat navs.

This org takes a fresh approach to displaying your ancestry results and I was startled by the number of abstract population groups that I’m linked to – some really interesting data which gives my family and I Iberian roots, much less Scandinavian and German heritage than I was expecting.

It makes a difference that GPS focuses on ancestry only, you can see it when putting their reports side by side with 23andMe’s. Getting the two migratory paths is AWESOME because I’m female and I had my maternal haplogroup (and migration path) from 23andMe, but couldn’t get my paternal haplogroup. One of the migration paths GPS showed matched perfectly with my maternal migration path, giving me a whole new glimpse of my paternal migration path.

This was a good investment into family history research – I’d recommend to anyone

Ancestry

26 November 2016

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 5 out of 5

5

Approved Review

I have tested with 23andme and AncestryDNA. I must say this autosomal test has been the most thorough of the 3. It fits with family lore as well. The layout is somewhat confusing and I wish the site would layout the results in a pie graph or histogram versus just listing them. The detail on each region one belongs to, is great. I am very pleased with this test. I have uploaded my results to Wegene, DNA.LAND, DNAtribes and Gedmatch, etc…and this site has been just as accurate as any of the above mentioned. I like 23andme a lot but I think it gets more credit than deserved. It is the biggest and its brand is excellent. However, I think that they are way behind where GPS origins has expanded upon. GPS origins, Gedmatch and 23andme in this order, are my preferred sites to discover my ancestry.

A treat

14 October 2016

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 5 out of 5

5

Approved Review

My godson procured this for me and I wanted to share my feelings about the results.

I am overwhelmed with the specificity of what I see in front of me. A beautiful depiction of my lineage and likely location of my forebears. I have much to learn about the workings of the GPS Origins and need to compare with our family records but I believe my DNA shows what I believe to be true about my heritage.

Avoid this one - it's a gimmick

I get my results, and all it was – in my case – was a list of 13 different populations, each with a descending percentage. That list of populations I could have gotten from GEDMATCH for free. The rest of the Origins Report is cut and paste padding.

The top three populations were discussed in a little detail, but even that is padding. And having a top three is arbitrary. My third result was a 13% result. My fourth result was a 11% result. Still obviously statistically significant, but that population group wasn’t discussed in any detail, and I had no access to a full list of detailed information about #4-13 of the populations.

The whole report, apart from the 13 reference groups, is padding. It’s a like buying a packet of chips full of air, with three chips inside. Rattling around.

That padding is all just ‘history of human migration’ stuff you could find out on Wikipedia. And the whole pinpoint your tribe thing is an absolute gimmick. It’s based on work that has been largely discredited by the science community.

To put it in perspective – if you even just go back 500 years, you’d have something like 16,000 ancestors just in that generation (n14). They would have come from ALLOVER, not a couple of villages. It’s absolute baloney, and you can get better analysis from GEDMATCH.

Please, make me feel like less of a fool and keep your money. Otherwise you’re just paying to feel ripped off.

The most impressive autosomal report I've ever bought

30 September 2016

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 5 out of 5

5

Approved Review

And I’ve bought 23andMe, Ancestry.com, Family Tree DNA family finder so I speak from some experience.

The GPS Origins report is by far more meaningful than the other tests I’ve invested in. It’s been very pleasurable to go through my results and to share them with my folks. The interfaces by the other DNA testing companies I’ve mentioned have always been too slow and too poorly organised to explain to my family (vague filters etc.) but GPS has cracked this problem :)

Would give 3.75 if I could

19 September 2016

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 4 out of 5

4

Approved Review

Hello DNA people! I took the upload option last week. GPS Origins is definitely sophisticated from reviewing their modelling techniques and the ancestral information they supplied syncs up with my family lore!

I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more information about who my ancestors really were and what they went through but I think $59 is pretty low to get more out of a £125 23andMe test. It’s nice that GPS give a focussed view where 23 doesn’t.

Not bad

31 August 2016

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 4 out of 5

4

Approved Review

I don’t think it is as bad as everyone on the forum is saying, it seems to tie up with a lot of the calcs on Gedmatch for me, it gives me a lot more Siberia, and I think this explains why on gedmatch I get low level Native American, given that Siberia contributed to their DNA (from what I have read).

GPS Origins Review

24 August 2016

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 5 out of 5

5

Approved Review

I took the GPS Origins test (non DNA) using my 23andme data. Very interesting. Lots of detail that I did not see in other tests. Provided a different perspective to my ancestry and am now digging deeper to connect the dots as to how we ended up in Southern Italy. Great value!

Mediocre

26 January 2016

Autosomal Analysis

Rated 3 out of 5

3

Approved Review

If I had the option to give this 2 1/2 stars I would. While I was able to use data from previous tests that was downloaded, I found the results confusing and the website not as user friendly as some other ancestry tests. Their gene pool categories are so specific & narrow…it was misleading. It listed my top 3 gene pools as Fennoscandinavian, Southern France, & Southern Indian. My paternal grandparents came Syria and I had one great grandfather that came from Alsace Lorraine, a great grandmother from Ireland & another from Switzerland. Other samples were similar. I also wished they’d list all the gene pool categories that a person could fall into. I had to refer to other test samples on the internet. Not worth the money.